Menu

Who We Are

Monica Gelinas

Principal & Founder

Monica is a leader in sustainable food and hospitality with 20 years transforming the Natural-Organic movement to mainstream. She got her start at the Cornell Hotel School and has since pioneered many food companies to success including launching Pret A Manger international as its first head of Head of Marketing, Supply Chain and Product Development. She has worked and advised for every step of the supply chain from start-up brands to multi-national/commodity across categories, covering freshly prepared, fast casual, B&I and CPG on business strategy, sourcing and brand identity. Her focus on food integrity has spanned civic work with foundations and cities including consultancy at KK&P designing food systems innovation and studies at NYU with a MS in Global Affairs.

Currently, Monica’s food journey is solely focused on her own start-up – Happa Kitchen (happa meaning “half-Asian”) – re-imagining Asian food with a mission to celebrate the kitchen table through inclusion and togetherness.

Monica has lead diverse, inter-generational teams for both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. She is a founding member of the Pret Foundation US, an elected-member of Cornell University Council and the President’s Council for Cornell Women.

Strategic Partners

We partner with industry leaders to bring sustainable supply chains from the back end to front end. GritWork’s partners offer hands-on knowledge and in-depth experience.